HR FL Conference: The End

Author: Tammie Eldred

Aug 20

by Stephen Geraghty-Harrison – Chapter President

What a whirlwind of a week it has been here in Orlando, FL. I’m beginning to get used to a 5:00 am wake-up call, although this one seemed like it came in even earlier after the Vegas Night festivities! Up and out the door by 6:00 am to meet up with my buddy Michael Long of Red Recruiting to set up for his “rise and shine” session “Twitter for HR and Recruiting.” It was awesome to see such a large group of attendees for such an early session. Michael touched on the basics of Twitter like retweets and direct messages and then went on to discuss search capabilities perfect for recruiting. The audience was fully engaged and asked lots of excellent questions. A big shout out to Michael for giving us some face time as he was pulling double duty – attending the HR Florida State Conference as well as the Disney Institute. Check his blog out for full coverage.

The last general session began with the announcement of the 2009 HR Florida Volunteer of the Year, Lori Goldsmith, SPHR. Lori has tirelessly been the voice of certification since her early days in HR Tampa, and has continued to be the face of certification for HR Florida. Along with volunteering her time serving the HR Florida State Council in that role, she volunteered to step in as the program chair for the 2009 Conference when the previous program chair stepped down. Lori is a professional. She embraces the HR Florida State Council mission and values while continuing to improve on her skills and assisting others in improving theirs. Congratulations Lori!

Following the award we welcomed Battlestar Galactica’s Admiral William Adama (aka Edward James Olmos) to the stage for a keynote address on diversity/race relations. After joking with the audience he launced into one of the most intense presentations I have ever witnessed. Everyone watched intently as Olmos described “race” throughout history. “There is only ONE race – the human race.” He also referenced his lively presentation at the United Nations on the same subject.

As this was the last day of the conference, it was the shortest with sessions ending at noon. While attendees were checking out of the hotel and traveling back to their homes across the state our conference team was debriefing and beginning plans for the 2010 conference. In a year that has been so troublesome for so many we did not know what to expect when it came to meeting our goals as an organization. Countless organizations across the country have had to cancel their conferences due to projected poor attendance and financial difficulties. With this in mind the council made an effort to be optimistic – and I am sure glad we did. As one person put it, “We are in spitting distance of reaching our goal!” Not only did our team sell out the expo hall, we also secured sponsors who went above and beyond to make this event such a success. On top of that our attendees were amazing. I had multiple conversations with exhibitors and sponsors who echoed the same sentiment – the attendees this year were the best they have ever seen. Engaged and invested, not here just for the swag.

2009 HR Florida Conference Team

What began as distant goal last year ended today with one of the best conferences the HR Florida State Council has ever put on. From a behind the scenes perspective this has been one of the largest and most demanding events that I have ever been a part of. So much goes on that the average attendee is unaware of. I have to give kudos to an amazing conference team led by an incredible leader. Without them we may have faced similar hardships as many other organizations. We stepped up to the plate and hit a home run! It has been an honor to work with each and every one of them. Until next time…

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Filed under: Professional Development | Tagged as: conferences, direct message, Disney Institute, diversity, HR Florida, HR Florida Volunteer of the Year, HR Tampa, Michael Long, networking, Orlando, Professional Development, race relations, Red Recruiting, retweet, social media, SPHR, Stephen Geraghty-Harrison, The Red Recruiter, training, Twitter, United Nations, volunteerism

HR FL: Conference Update 1

Author: Tammie Eldred

Aug 17

by Stephen Geraghty-Harrison – Chapter President

As chapter president for Big Bend SHRM I am a voting member of the HR Florida State Council. This year I am also volunteering as one of two Technology Directors that manage the council’s presence in social media. On top of that I volunteered to be a member of the 2009 conference team. Needless to say I love it all!

Roger loves stuffing bags!

Today was a long day for us at the HR Florida State Conference. It began with me waking up at 5 am not being able to sleep because I was thinking about all the prep work left to do! After a few hours of web updates, posts on Facebook and tweets I headed down to the conference team room to grab my radio and hit the conference center floor. First big task: stuff over 1,300 conference attendee goodie bags, with help from members of our incredible conference team filling in for missing volunteers. After 3.5 hours, a few dozen paper cuts, a slice and dice from a pair of scissors and some much needed coffee and pastries, a cheer rang through the hall as the last bag was stuffed and ready to go! With the bright green bags piled high we dispersed and found other tasks to tackle.

At this point I made my way up to help out in a pre-conference session, “Social Media + HR” presented by Kris Dunn from The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent. The session was packed with 30 HR pros eager learn what Kris had to say. We were also graced with appearances by two other fellow HR bloggers Jessica Lee from Fistful of Talent and Mike VanDervort from The Human Race Horses.

Kris did a phenomenal overview of why social media should be important to you as an HR pro, including answering the question “Who cares?” – “Your customers, your candidates, your kids, your employees and people who want to give you money as an HR pro!” Kris thoroughly covered tidbits on Google Reader and its importance to an HR pro with a drive to learn. Attendees had their laptops and followed his every move – slowly getting the hang of it.

Next came a detailed look into Twitter. With the help of Jessica, Mike and myself Kris was able to lead attendees to creating their own accounts and tweeting for the very first time. This caused quite a few smiles across the room - that turned into lots of excellent questions. By the end of the session everyone seemed pretty content and proud of themselves – maybe even a little less scared of social media!

As attendees began to flood the hotel and registration area I headed off to a technical rehearsal for our general sessions followed by a meeting with the registration team, making name badges for our blogging panel and finally dinner. No sooner did I set my napkin on the table I was out the door to review pictures taken by our wonderful photographer from Jobing.com for our following day’s presentations. I can’t forget helping the HR Florida secretary prepare gift baskets for our silent auction benefitting the Make a Wish Foundation and the SHRM Foundation.

Last but certainly not least I made it back to my hotel room just past midnight to right this update and head to bed. Another early day awaits me but I look forward to each and every second of it!

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Filed under: Professional Development | Tagged as: Big Bend SHRM, conferences, Facebook, Fistful of Talent, Florida, Google Reader, HR Florida, Human Race Horses, Jessica Lee, Jobing.com, Kris Dunn, Make a Wish Foundation, Mike VanDervort, networking, Rosen Shingle Creek, SHRM Foundation, social media, Stephen Geraghty-Harrison, The HR Capitalist, training, Twitter, volunteerism

Making HR Gumbo

Author: Tammie Eldred

Jul 5

by Karen Goodlett, SPHR – Certification Guru

When Big Bend SHRM’s Communication Chair, Rebecca Devivo suggested the name HR Gumbo for the Chapter blog, I immediately became caught up in the imagery of a large black cauldron over a hot fire…. As someone who comes from a family of cooks, the concept of a recipe that involved Human Resources, subject matter experts, fresh ingredients and pinches of commentary told me this had potential….

I love to cook! Sometimes, it is a rushed necessity, but cooking is more often a creative outlet that feeds both body and spirit. For special occasions, I plan the meal beginning with a visit to the local grocery store. More often, I open the pantry and refrigerator and look at what I can create from the ingredients I have on hand.

As we look at our places of work, how many of us have the ingredients for HR Gumbo? I know we all have at least one “Subject Matter Expert”. Each of us brings our unique experiences and knowledge to jobs. “Heat” is a constant that comes with the job. “Fresh ideas” are readily available from many sources: networking with peers; professional development opportunities such as the HR Tallahassee Conference, the HR Florida State Conference & Expo or even the SHRM National Conference, and HR magazines, journals, and on-line resources. Unfortunately, there are times when we get so caught up just trying to get through the week that we forget the resources available to assist us. The feedback received from customers, employees, and management offers HR daily “Commentary” and opportunities to respond.

So what could be missing? How often have you read or heard someone in the past few months comment that we’re losing the “Human” in Human Resources? That is the one ingredient that sets our gumbo apart from all the others. The “Human” ingredient is concern for others. It is the passion for making a difference in people’s lives. It is our calling to make the world a better place. It is why we work in Human Resources.

As Human Resource professionals, we walk a fine line representing both our businesses and our employees; but in these difficult times the human face of our endeavors becomes even more important. Yes, there may be layoffs, but we can deliver bad news with care and compassion and explain how to file for Unemployment Compensation and COBRA. Yes, there will always be performance issues, but we can discipline and still respect the employee. Yes, budgets may be too tight for salary increases, but we can teach management to reward employees in other ways. It is our job to build morale. It is our job to encourage employee creativity and growth. We might not be able to alleviate the circumstances creating job fears among employees, but we can almost always reduce the apprehension and other negative effects.

Look at your office. Assemble your ingredients and make a big pot of HR Gumbo this summer! With all the right ingredients, the end result will feed both the body and spirit of your organization.

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Filed under: Gumbo, Professional Development | Tagged as: conferences, Gumbo, HR Florida, HR Tallahassee, Karen Goodlett, networking, Professional Development, SHRM, training

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